Warehouse space grows food bank's local distribution
Some of the greatest demand for food for the hungry exists in Cumberland and York counties and thanks to several state and federal grants, the Good Shepherd Food-Bank will now be able to store items closer to them in 20,000 square feet of new space in Portland.
The Auburn-based nonprofit group as of last week is leasing warehouse space from Megco Realty II LLC at 111 Pine Tree Parkway. The new space will make it easier for 160 agencies that serve the hungry in those two counties to pick up and transport donated food items, says Christine Force, director of development and marketing for Good Shepherd Food-Bank.
The deal was brokered by Nate Stevens of CB Richard Ellis/The Boulos Co. in Portland and by Greg Hastings of NAI The Dunham Group. Force says the warehouse landlord, Julian Coles, offered the food bank a "very favorable" two-year lease, but she would not disclose the rate.
"It's been a goal of ours for a while and we finally received the funding we needed from foundations in Maine," says Force. One of the larger grants was provided by J.T.G. Foundation in Lewiston, she added. She says part of the funding for setup costs for the new Portland warehouse were provided by MSG Settlement Funds through Feeding America.
The new warehouse facility includes office space, and the food bank will hire a full-time office manager to staff it. She says 40 full- and part-time people work at the food bank's Auburn facility, which is 30,000 square feet, and the Brewer facility, which is 7,500 square feet. The food bank, founded in 1981, provides food to more than 600 soup kitchens, homeless shelters, churches and other agencies statewide.
The warehouse will help agencies in York and Cumberland counties save money and time on their transportation costs when they pre-order pallets of various food items or shop for select items at the Portland warehouse.
Continued demand for the food bank's services keeps fueling their growth, Force says.
Cumberland County's demand is 6 million pounds of food per year, but the food bank can only provide about 1.5 million pounds each year. Statewide, the agencies that work with Good Shepherd Food-Bank say demand for food increases an average of 30%-50% annually, Force says.
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